Counties must address biased and unjust property tax assessments

NC Newsline

It’s a universal rule of local government that nobody likes their property tax bill or the way their property is assessed. By any measure, the assessors have a tough and thankless job.

That said, it’s also true that there are unjust assessments and sometimes they’re the byproduct of historical bias and discrimination that affect large numbers of property owners. And right now, that appears to be the case in some North Carolina communities.

As NC Newsline reported last week, advocates in Orange County recently provided compelling evidence that residents of some historically Black neighborhoods are experiencing this injustice.

The advocates say newer larger homes in those neighborhoods – typically owned by white investors — are undervalued while older homes owned by longtime Black residents are systematically overvalued.

And that results in genuinely unjust tax bills.

The bottom line: To their credit, Orange County officials say they will review the data. Let’s hope they do so quickly and carefully and that the work inspires other counties across the state to follow suit.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.